by Jocelyn McClurg, Bob Minzesheimer & Yohana Desta, USA TODAY

by Jocelyn McClurg, Bob Minzesheimer & Yohana Desta, USA TODAY

The mighty Thor: With Hidden Order, his 12th thriller featuring counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath, Brad Thor lands at No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list, bumping off Dan Brown's Inferno along the way. It's Thor's first time in the top spot; his previous best showing was No. 8 for two Harvath titles, Black List last year and Full Black in 2011. Thor's audience has grown steadily over the past 11 years; in 2002, the first Harvath book, The Lions of Lucerne, peaked at No. 107. In Hidden Order, Thor has the Federal Reserve in his sights. - Jocelyn McClurg

E is for e-book: The 23rd detective novel in Sue Grafton's alphabet series, W Is for Wasted, won't be released until Sept. 10, but thanks to a publisher's promotion that cut many of her e-book prices, 13 of the earlier books in the series are in the top 150. A Is for Alibi, released in 1982, is No. 6, its highest ranking ever on the list, which began in 1993. The last 13 books in Grafton's series starring private investigator Kinsey Milhone all landed in the list's top 10. Increasingly, publishers are temporarily cutting e-book prices to help reintroduce veteran authors to new readers. - Bob Minzesheimer

Very good dog: It's not every day that an "author" lunch features a highly verbal 9-year-old - one that just happens to be a famed border collie. But this week in New York, psychologist John W. Pilley, 85, gave a mini-demonstration of his herding dog's comprehension of 1,000-plus words, as Chaser fetched toys with names such as "Miss Moose" and even imitated Pilley's stroll around the room (with one small detour). Pilley's Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is due in October. - McClurg

David Gilbert interview: USA TODAY's Bob Minzesheimer chatted with author David Gilbert about his latest book & Sons. The novel's main character is A.N. Dyer, a reclusive, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who may remind readers of J.D. Salinger. Gilbert's fascination with the (fictional) writer led him to do a book trailer, where he asks people, including actress Brooke Shields, what their favorite A.N. Dyer novel is.

Frozen authors talk fantasy: Authors (and married couple) Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston spoke with USA TODAY about their new novel Frozen. The couple co-wrote the dystopian fantasy, about a blackjack dealer named Nat who dreams of flying off to a paradise called "The Blue." Plus, check out an exclusive excerpt from the novel.

Edward Snowden book: It was only a matter of time. Glenn Greenwald, the investigative reporter who broke the story of the government's surveillance on everyday citizens, is writing a book about notorious leaker Edward Snowden. The book, as yet untitled, will be published in March 2014 by Metropolitan.

Rainn Wilson's 'non-memoir': Rainn Wilson, the actor better known to fans as Dwight Schrute from The Office, is writing a book. Though it will be about his life, Wilson says it is not exactly a memoir. In a statement, he joked that "If I were in my 80s, had cured a disease and survived a war, I would be entitled to write a memoir." The book, as yet untitled, will be published in fall 2014 by Dutton.

New Voices: Adelle Waldman: USA TODAY's Jocelyn McClurg spoke with author Adelle Waldman about her new book, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.The novel follows the titular character, Nate Piven, a Brooklyn novelist with a complicated love life.

I Wear the Black Hat: Reviewer Kevin Nance says author Chuck Klosterman is just as "cocky and self-absorbed" as any of the villains he writes about in his new book, I Wear the Black Hat(*** out of 4). However, that's part of the book's appeal. Nance says this "witty, brainy" book considers how society views real-life villains including Islamic terrorist hijackers and TV antiheroes like Tony Soprano (The Sopranos).

Rose Kennedy: The last name Kennedy is always going to be a draw. For Barbara A. Perry, it's her livelihood. The author, Kennedy scholar and presidential historian at the University of Virginia, has made Rose Kennedy the subject of her latest book, Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch(*** out of 4). Reviewer Matt Damsker says the book has an "unsinkable subject" in Kennedy, who "marshaled enormous dignity at the most tragic times," living through the assassination of two of her sons, Bobby Kennedy and President John F. Kennedy.